August (5-7) Hurricane Creek Trip

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GarnerFJ40 said:
Man, the situation doesn't look so bad in the winching picture! Just goes to prove that you can never let your guard down when driving trails regardless of how easy they are! Getting distracted for one second can put yourself into a precarious position!

Thanks to the group for the time and effort that went into the 2 point extraction, and for Greg verifying that I DID rebuild his old winch properly!
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yeah the picture doesn't do justice to just how bad it really looked in person. Correct me if I am wrong but that might have been taken after the initial pull to get you straightened up. But kudos to everyone that jumped in on the recovery. A true group effort.
 
Looks like it was a blast!! Doesn't even look like you got rained on either.

Where did y'all end up staying each night? Looks like one was Wolf Creek Falls, right?
 
So what happened that a winch was needed, where did it happen??? I'm not accepting "you had to be there"!

Where was the pic taken where the vehicles are circled up? (fj40z's first pic)

Appears that the gravel roads were a bit moist as those vehicles look darn clean in all pics......the dust experienced on the previous two trips was pretty bad!
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Looks like it was a blast!! Doesn't even look like you got rained on either.

Where did y'all end up staying each night? Looks like one was Wolf Creek Falls, right?
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First night was Round Mountain. Night two was on the French Broad river on the peninsula. We did go to Wolf creek falls but there was a guy camping there already and for some reason felt the need to target practice while we were there as well.

JToobe said:
So what happened that a winch was needed, where did it happen??? I'm not accepting "you had to be there"!

Where was the pic taken where the vehicles are circled up? (fj40z's first pic)

Appears that the gravel roads were a bit moist as those vehicles look darn clean in all pics......the dust experienced on the previous two trips was pretty bad!
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that pic was not long after the entrance from I-40 and right before the abandoned bus.

as far as the recover we ran Brian's winch to pull forward and Ramon was behind him winched to a snatch block and Brian's rear to keep him from sliding off the end. One of the better pics thanks to Jerilyn but even still doesn't do it justice.

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Jeez. Reminds me of a recovery we did up at Harlan years ago. Scary stuff to be off-camber in a ravine like that.
 
erymer said:
...as far as the recover we ran Brian's winch to pull forward and Ramon was behind him winched to a snatch block and Brian's rear to keep him from sliding off the end. One of the better pics thanks to Jerilyn but even still doesn't do it justice.
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Yeah, Eric, we were saying the same thing as we were showing our kids - the pics just don't seem to capture it. It was cool to be around so many folks with recovery experience and to see everyone's confidence, and to watch a brilliant strategy get implemented.
 
Yep, first night was at Round Mt. as the recovery took us a little while and the initial plan was Weaver's Bend on the French Broad. But, here's a little gem from some exploring. Not Midnight Hole, but probably better as no hiking was involved. Beware there are some pics of some skinny dippers!


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GarnerFJ40 said:
Yep, first night was at Round Mt. as the recovery took us a little while and the initial plan was Weaver's Bend on the French Broad. But, here's a little gem from some exploring. Not Midnight Hole, but probably better as no hiking was involved. Beware there are some pics of some skinny dippers!


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What is the name of this waterfall/place that these topless men are?
 
I was hoping to get up into the area northeast of the french broad in June but we decided to stay south! Looks like there's some cool places to go up there!!
 
Huge huge thanks to everyone for putting the trip together, holding it together, keeping everyone well fed, and most importantly getting everyone home safely.

Long story short, I had this happen just west of Sandy Ridge Rd in Greensboro.
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That used to be the front axle, driver's side trailer tire. Threw the spare on - no biggie, right? - only to find out the spare had dry rotted without my noticing. Greensboro folks were hot in action when the SOS text went out. Big shout out to Steven, Rymers, and Free for helping me come up with a plan. Wound up leaving trailer and Dozer secure at Steve's golf course last night and I returned today with a fresh spare and Steve and the Rymers were there to help me change it and load Dozer for the trip home. So grateful to have a group so generous, despite my distaste for being on the receiving end of help like this. Humbled.

As for the trip, Dozer did pretty darn well IMO for a shakedown run. Never locked the hubs, but did play with the new rear ARB a couple of times just for fun. On and off rain with the soft top was a bit of a pain, but hopefully not too big of a pain for the group when we had to stop a couple of times to roll curtains up / down. Scenery was beautiful and the water was soooooo refreshing. Heather and Brian rocked it with support from so many in the group. Great trip!! Will be returning sooner than later.

Not many of my pictures are more than lower quality iPhone repeats of others' good photos, but I liked this one and thought I would share. I'll scan emma's phone for any good ones, since driving a 40 doesn't really lend a lot of opportunities to snap pictures. I knew Heather would provide an album of terrific shots anyway :D !

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Awesome pics and trip summary. Thanks for sharing the video Mike. I second what everyone else has said and just have to say that this club and group of people are absolutely incredible. Not many groups have the sort of care and concern that the people in this club have. Eleanor had an absolute blast and asked me to turn around several times as she wasn't done camping. When we got to Columbia she wanted to know where all the other land cruisers were. For those that haven't been to Sierra Nevada you need to go, great food, an amazing facility and they even manage to brew a few beers. Thanks to all who played a part in this trip

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well time to put some thought to paper...or the innerwebs.

I cannot say enough good things about this group. Top to bottom the people here are the best collection of humans I've ever had the pleasure of calling friends. Brian and Heather thanks so much for putting this together and to Jason on the varsity level navigational skills. I think you've opened up a few new ideas as this trip continues to evolve. It was so nice seeing (in no particular order) Greg and Eleanor, The Shandors, Hickok and Morris, Ramon and Emily, Jason and Emily and our newest additions, Mike and Jerilyn. For Mike and Jerilyn, this was their first trip out and looks to me that they just jumped right in and were a perfect fit. Seeing Jerilyn in the muddy river with a wine glass was a testament to it. lol. All the kids played so well together and all the adults looked after each child as if they were their own. As Marie always says, "thanks for sharing your kids with us." I just love that saying.

For me the trip was incredible even though I had a few issues. The mountain heading in is a bit unforgiving. When we topped the mountain heading into asheville we stopped for gas. As we pulled in I quickly realized I had no power steering. fluid level were ok and couldn't see anything obvious. Decided to push on as it would not be a deal breaker, just raise the difficulty level. About 30 minutes into the actual trail portion power steering returned. I can only assume the engine compartment was so hot that it degraded the pump or fluids and caused the failure. So with the Rhino back to norm we pushed forward. Later that night as we pulled into the Round mountain campsite I applie the brake and my foot went to the firewall. A quick pump and the pressure was there but It would appear all the steep declines and heat was now punishing my brake system. Again fluid levels are fine. Long story somewhat shorter once things cooled down all worked as normal again.

So, a couple takeaways for me are as follows:

1. before a demanding trip change out your fluids. Even though the levels are ok, this is not good enough. And the bad thing is I knew this too but I guess I just took it for granted.

2. I will be doing the hood vents to the 80. I have to find a way to keep the engine compartment cooler.

3. An awning is a huge benefit on a trip like this. I love my 4ft tepui but will be adding a 6 or 8 ft model as well.

4. Make sure you don't skimp on recovery gear. You might think you have yourself covered but you need to make sure you personally have all the gear needed.

I'm sure there are more things but as this was truly our first true primitive camping weekend we certainly learned a lot.
 
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